Record a Meeting Programmatically, Get a Transcript via API
There is no single ScreenApp endpoint that takes a meeting URL and hands back a finished transcript. What exists is two separate, real pieces you can wire together. First, ScreenApp publishes an github.com/screenappai/meeting-bot, a meeting bot for Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams: you self-host it, POST it a meeting URL and a token, and it joins the call and records it. Second, the ScreenApp API lets you upload any recording, ask the AI a question about it (including “summarize this meeting”), then fetch the result once processing is done.
Run the bot, get the recording, upload it, ask for a summary. That is the whole pipeline, and each step is documented on its own.
What you get:
- An open-source bot that joins github.com/screenappai/meeting-bot
- File upload endpoints for a single recording or, for larger files, a multipart upload in parts
- An ask-a-question endpoint that answers a prompt about the recording, including a summary, with AI reads video frames, not just the audio
- A transcript with speaker identification, in 100+ languages
- An API token and team ID from your ScreenApp account Settings, no separate developer signup for the content API
How to Build a Meeting Recording Pipeline
- Deploy the bot: Clone github.com/screenappai/meeting-bot and run it yourself, on your own server or in a container. Trigger a join with a REST call carrying the meeting URL, a participant name, and your auth token. The bot records to a file and hands it to object storage when the call ends.
- Upload the recording: Send that file to the ScreenApp API with your account token and team ID. The upload finalizes into a recording in your ScreenApp library, the same as anything recorded or uploaded by hand.
- Ask for a summary: Call the ask-a-question endpoint on that recording with a prompt like “summarize this meeting” or “list the action items.” Poll for the result until processing finishes.
If you would rather not run your own bot, a non-developer path exists too: connect a calendar and let ScreenApp’s own bot join Google Meet calls for you, covered on the Google Meet bot page. Accuracy of the resulting transcript depends on the audio each participant sends, same as any recording. See how we measure accuracy. Full request and response details for the content API, including authentication and the multipart upload flow, are in the API documentation.
Meeting Recording API vs Other Developer Platforms
| Feature | ScreenApp | Recall.ai | Nylas Notetaker |
|---|---|---|---|
| Usage pricing | Your infrastructure cost only for the bot; content API uses your ScreenApp plan, from $19/month annual | $0.50/hour recording, plus $0.15/hour for built-in transcription | 5 bot hours/month included, then $0.80/additional hour on Essentials |
| Free tier | 2 transcriptions of recordings up to 45 minutes each on the content API | 5 hours trial credit | 5 bot hours/month |
| Platform support | Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams (bot repo) | Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, and more | Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams |
Sources, checked 2026-09-17: ScreenApp pricing, recall.ai/pricing, nylas.com/pricing/, nylas.com/products/notetaker/
- vs Recall.ai: Recall.ai runs the bot for you as a hosted service at $0.50 an hour, plus $0.15 an hour if you want their transcription, after a 5 hours trial. ScreenApp’s bot is open source and self-hosted, so there is no per-hour bot fee; you pay only for the ScreenApp plan you use to turn the recording into a transcript and summary.
- vs Nylas Notetaker: Nylas includes 5 bot hours a month free, then bills $0.80 per additional hour on its Essentials tier. Nylas supports Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams through its own hosted bot; ScreenApp’s bot repo targets the same three platforms but runs on infrastructure you control.
Who Builds on the Meeting Recording API
Software developers self-host the open-source bot to capture calls on their own infrastructure, then upload the output to ScreenApp for a transcript and summary instead of building transcription themselves.
CRM and sales platforms run the bot against sales calls and post the recording to ScreenApp so a summary of objections and next steps lands in the deal record through the API.
Training and e-learning platforms capture instructor-led sessions with the bot and pull a transcript and searchable notes into their own learning platform.
Internal tools teams build an archive of internal meetings by running the bot on scheduled calls and asking the ScreenApp API questions about specific recordings later.
Teams that do not want to run their own bot skip the repo entirely and connect a calendar so ScreenApp’s own bot joins Google Meet calls, covered on the Google Meet bot page.
